A Day Without Danny
by Ormandria
Summary: Skulker is back in town and bent on caputuring Danny. But what will he do when his favorite prey is too sick to come out and play?
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note & Disclaimer:** I do not own Danny Phantom, nor any characters or places there in. Butch Hartmen retains full ownership of all that._

_This story takes place after Reign Storm, but before The Ultimate Enemy. I am trying to stay as true to the characters and the series as is possible. That being said, this story is one that I have posted elsewhere under the name SayerSong (see my bio for more info), so before anyone thinks that I might have "stolen" this, I did not. I merely started it on another website, but plan to continue it here for personal reasons. If you have questions, feel free to ask. I hope that I am able to to get the third chapter of this up soon, but can't guarantee anything._

_That being said, I hope you all enjoy and that you will take the time to review! Thank you!_

_**Ormandria

* * *

**_

_Casper High School, Amity Park, Saturday, 8:45 a.m._

"Oh man!" Tucker exclaimed as he threw himself back against the cold, concrete wall. "This bites! Explain to me again, why we're doing this?"

"Because Danny's still sick," replied Sam, barely able to conceal her exasperation at Tucker. "And we promised him that we'd take care of any ghost activity that got out of hand." She bent down and quickly grabbed the silver thermos that had dropped from her hands mere moments ago, scrambling to get the lid off.

"Yeah, but I mean, that was when we thought the worst we would see was that stupid Box Ghost. I'm sure that Danny wouldn't want us trying to fight off the tiny tyrant and his merciless menace all by ourselves."

Tucker peered around the corner of the school to ensure that Youngblood the Pirate Ghost was still there, but the ghost was nowhere to be seen. Tucker was about to turn back to Sam when a bluish-green face suddenly appeared before him.

"_Boo!"_ yelled Youngblood. Tucker screamed and fell backward in surprise, barely missing Sam. Youngblood started laughing hysterically as he watched Tucker try in vain to regain his composure. "You scream like a girl!"

Tucker sat up immediately, shaking his fist in anger at the ghost. "I do not!"

"Do too!" Youngblood continued laughing. So engrossed was he with Tucker's antics, he failed to notice that the slim, Goth girl dressed in a purple and black plaid skirt and black tank-top, standing behind the African-American boy, was pointing her thermos directly at him.

"Eat thermos, Parrot-boy!"

Youngblood stopped laughing long enough to look at Sam and the now glowing item in her hands. Light shot out of the end of the object as he felt himself sucked into slowly into the Fenton Thermos. _"No!" _he cried, trying to claw his way out…. It was no use, he was unable to escape the swirling vortex. When he was finally sucked all the way in, Sam turned the thermos toward the two lone skeleton ghosts that Youngblood had brought with him, scooping them into the thermos as well. When she was done, Sam closed the lid tightly and, leaning her back against the wall next to Tucker, slid down to the floor to sit.

"I do not scream, like a girl," Tucker huffed under his breathe.

"Well, that's done," Sam remarked, ignoring Tucker's statement. "We can go back to the Fenton's and put these ghosts back into the Ghost Zone where they belong. And we can visit Danny while we're at it. Poor guy is probably going nuts being stuck at home under his mom's care." She pulled herself up and started dusting herself off. "Come on Tuck, we'd better get going."

Sam looked down at her second-all-time best friend in the world as he sat and sulked. She had known Danny and Tucker for years and had never been able to imagine too better friends then them. Oh there were times that they had their differences, like when Sam had accidentally wished she had never met Danny, or when Tucker had thought he was permanently jinxed and tried going Goth, but in truth she wouldn't give either of them up for anything in the world. Sighing, Sam Mason held her hand out to her friend and spoke to him in the same upbeat manner she had used when he was going through his mid-teen crisis.

"Don't listen to him Tuck. He's a ghost. He just wanted to get you all riled up."

"You think?" Tucker asked. He accepted Sam's hand as she helped him up.

"Of course. Besides, you don't really sound like a girl when you scream."

Tucker smiled at this as Sam started to walk across the school yard toward Danny's house.

"Yeah," he said. "I don't sound like a girl." His spirits lifting Tucker started following Sam.

"More like a …" Sam paused for dramatic effect. "A tortured cat. Yeah, that's what you sound like when you scream. A tortured cat."

"_What?" _

Sam stopped completely and lifting her hand to her forehead, shook her head as if remembering something important. "Oh wait, that's when you _sing_ that you sound like that. Sorry. Got the two confused there for a minute."

"_Sam!" _

Laughing, Sam gripped the Fenton thermos tightly and took off running as Tucker raced off after her.

* * *

_Fenton Residence, Amity Park, Saturday, 9:15 a.m._

Danny let out a long low groan as he shifted his position in bed. He had been sick for the better part of two days and there didn't seem to be any end in sight. It wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that his mother had taken this opportunity to hover over him almost twenty-four/seven. Even his father had taken an unnatural interest in Danny, assuming that whatever bug he had caught must have somehow been planted by a ghost.

Only Jazz seemed to have any real sympathy for Danny. When Mr. Lancer had taken it upon himself, the night before, to bring Danny his homework from the last two days, Jazz had tried desperately to convince her parents and Mr. Lancer that Danny had plenty of time to worry about homework later and for now should be getting some much needed rest. Much to Danny's dismay, and Jazz's obvious disappointment, she failed and Lancer gleefully handed Danny a pile of homework almost a foot high.

"Danny's a Fenton!" their dad had declared with pride. "And Fenton's don't let a little thing like a cold come between them and their homework!"

"But Dad," Jazz had retorted rather quickly. "What if it was a ghost that caused his illness? Then it's out of Danny's hands, right?"

"By golly, you're right! I can't let some ghost get the better of Jack Fenton's son! I must track down that scurrilous creature!" With that, Jack Fenton had rushed from Danny's room to the lab down in the basement leaving a very relieved Jazz and Danny, a very concerned Maddie and a very confounded Mr. Lancer in his wake. Jazz took the moment of silence that lingered after that to usher her mother and Mr. Lancer out of the room, sparing Danny a wink as she closed the door behind them.

Danny had been lucky enough afterwards to only have a few nocturnal visits from his mother. At one point he even dreamed that Jazz had come in and sat in the chair next to him for a few hours, as if she was trying to watch over him and protect him in his vulnerable state. It had been a very realistic dream, even including their mom coming in to wake Danny up to give him some anti-ghost treatment that she suspected might get rid of any supernatural creatures attacking Danny from the inside-out. Somehow though, Jazz had managed to talk their mom into leaving him alone for the rest of the night on the promise that she would let them know if any ghosts showed up. Most of the rest of the dream was simply of Jazz sitting, watching and sleeping a bit next to Danny's bed until she finally went back to her own room.

When he finally woke up that morning, for all the weird dreams he had had that night, he actually felt like he had gotten very little real sleep. His throat screamed in pain and his eyes were watering terribly. He was about to reach over for his baseball bat – to bang on the floor to get someone's attention – when Jazz opened the door and walked in with a try of soup and a glass of orange juice.

"Hey, Danny," she smiled. "I heard you rustling around up here and thought I'd bring you something to eat. I know it isn't much, but it should help you get better." She waited for him to sit up and placed the tray on his lap, taking a seat in the chair next to his bed.

'_Strange,'_ Danny thought. _'I thought it had only been sitting there in the dream … oh well.'_

"Thanks, Jazz," Danny croaked out. Grimacing in pain, his hand shot up and immediately clutched his throat.

"Don't talk Danny. You need to get your rest or you won't get better in time to get that homework done and back to Mr. Lancer by Monday." Jazz nodded at the pile of papers that still sat on Danny's desk. Danny chuckled a little.

A knock sounded on Danny's door and Jazz stood up and walked over to open the door. Sam and Tucker stood on the other side. Danny noticed Sam was holding something behind her back. "Hi, Danny," she said, waving her free hand at him.

"Hi, Danny." Tucker pushed past both Sam and Jazz, plopping into the chair that Jazz had just left. He swung his legs up so that his feet rested on Danny's bed.

"Tucker!" Sam yelled. "Sorry about that."

"That's okay," Jazz replied, shrugging. "Remember, I've got Danny as a brother, so I'm kind of use to being pushed aside when someone's in a hurry."

"Oh yeah," laughed Sam as she glanced nervously toward Danny. "Hey, what's with the giant Dream Catchers downstairs? There are two of them on either side of the door when you come in." She was anxious to change the subject. Something about Jazz had been putting her off for a few months now and Sam sometimes found herself wondering if Jazz knew more about what Danny did in his spare time then she let on. Sam had been wanting to ask Jazz about this for a while now, but couldn't, just in case she was wrong. It wasn't her place to tell Jazz about Danny being half-ghost. That was something only Danny had a right to do.

"Oh for the love of…." Jazz bent her head, cupping her face in her hand as she let out an exhausted sigh. "I told them not to put those up! People are going to think we're a bunch of freaks!"

She looked up at the trio. "Sorry about that. I'll see if I can't get mom and dad out of the house for awhile so you guys can have some privacy. Otherwise next thing you know they'll be up here with the ghost peeler in the hopes that using it on Danny will make him well." Jazz turned from the room and rushed downstairs, her long red hair flying behind her. After making sure that Jazz was gone, Sam closed the door, pulling the Fenton Thermos out from behind her back to hand to Danny.

"Youngblood," she said by way of explanation. "Caught him at the school. We wouldn't have even known he was there if it hadn't been for Tucker deciding to let his precious PDA take a swim in the parks fountain."

"Hey! I tripped! That's all. And it wasn't even my fault." Tucker interrupted huffily.

"No, I suppose it was that blonde chicks fault for being _so beautiful_ that you simply had to trip over yourself to get to her." Sam was barely able to contain a smirk at the memory of Tucker making an absolute fool of himself before focusing back on Danny. "Anyway, Tuck just had to go to the school so he could get his back-up PDA and we ran into Youngblood. Would have put him in the ghost zone, but your dad's in the basement inventing some new gadget. So we thought it better to wait."

"Eh. That's okay. Knowing Jazz, she meant what she said and will have my folks out of the house in about 5 minutes. She's been doing everything she can to try to keep them out of my hair. I think she's worried that they'll make me even more sick then I already am."

Sam furrowed her brow in concern. "Danny, about Jazz…."

"What about her?" Danny tried to sit up a little straighter in bed and instantly regretted it as his head started swimming in a sudden onslaught of pain.

"Well…," Sam wasn't sure how to proceed. After a moment of thought, she decided the direct approach was best and went ahead, saying what had been on her mind for months. "Are you sure that Jazz doesn't know about you and you're … um … special talents?"

"Jazz?" Danny looked up at his friend in surprise. "Of course not. Not a clue." Danny could see that Sam didn't look totally convinced though. Come to think of it, Danny wasn't totally sure he was convinced either, but surely if Jazz knew anything she would have mentioned it by now.

"Listen," Danny continued. "If Jazz knew, there is absolutely no way she would keep it to herself. Heck, she'd probably start hanging it over my head as blackmail material in case I decided to do anything to ruin her perfect little reputation as the only sane person in this family."

"He's got a point you know," stated Tucker, who although totally engrossed in programming his PDA had been listening to the whole conversation.

Sam laughed.

"Yeah, you're right," she said, suddenly feeling more at ease.

A bang interrupted further talk and the trio suddenly heard the familiar voice of Maddie Fenton float upstairs.

"Danny? Your father and I are going to run to the electronic store to get some replacement parts. We might be awhile. Jazz is here though, so if you need anything, let her know okay?"

"And watch out for any ghosts that pop their head in to try to make you even more sick!"

"_DAD!"_

"Bye kids! Have fun!"

They all heard the door slam shut and the screech of tires as Danny's parents drove off.

"Hm," remarked Tucker from his seat by Danny's bed. "Guess Jazz didn't need to egg your parents to get out of here afterall."

Danny merely nodded.

"So any idea what Youngblood was doing at the school?" he asked.

"Nope." Sam picked up a baseball from Danny's desk and started lobbing it in the air, catching it and re-tossing it each time it came down. "Didn't even think to ask. But if you want you can let him out and ask him yourself."

"No way!" Tucker was suddenly standing on the other side of the room, as far away from the Fenton Thermos as he could get himself. "If he comes out, I go home!"

Sam immediately started laughing as Danny looked at both his friends, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Okay, spill it. What did I miss?"

Tucker glared at Sam, almost daring her to repeat what Youngblood had said back at the school. Sam stopped laughing and gave in to her friend's desire for secrecy.

"Nothing Danny. You kinda had to be there." She smiled at Tucker, who sat back down in relief.

"Tuck?" Danny asked.

"Don't wanna talk about it."

Danny shrugged his shoulders and gave up for the moment, knowing full well that one of his friends would spill the beans later about what had happened at the school between Tuck and Youngblood that had his friend so riled.

"So how are you feeling?" Sam asked, although she and Tucker were both already sure of what the answer would be. If anything, Danny looked worse then he had the day before.

"This flu is really kicking my butt," he replied, confirming Sam and Tucker's thoughts. "Fever, nausea, headache and sore throat all rolled up into one. I can't remember ever feeling this bad before in my life."

"What about when you had the chicken pox?" Tucker asked. "Or when you caught mono that one year during Christmas. And then there was the mumps back in '98, and the measles in '95 …."

"_Alright Tucker_. I think Danny's got the point."

"I was just saying …."

Sam walked behind Tucker and pulled his red beret over his eyes. It was one of the few ways she knew of to shut him up. The other usually consisted of an elbow in the stomach, a punch to the arm or a kick to the shin, none of which she was in a position to carry out. She turned to go stand by the wall again, when suddenly the door to Danny's room opened revealing the very familiar face of a young African American girl that they went to school with. She carried some magazines under one arm and a large covered Tupperware dish in her hands.

Sam felt the familiar sensations of hate, jealousy, and rage build up inside of her at the sight of her.

"Hey, Fenton," Valerie said with a smile, totally ignoring the other two occupants of the room. "Heard you were sick and thought I'd bring you some of my mom's famous chicken noodle soup. It'll have you up and at 'em in no time."


	2. Chapter 2

Sam clutched her fists, not even bothering to try to conceal her ever growing disdain for Valerie Gray. "What are you doing here?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"What?" Valerie acted as if she had just finally noticed Sam in the room. "Oh, like I said. I heard Fenton was sick and thought he could use some company. I even brought him some comic books to read to take his mind of being sick." With that Valerie pulled the stack of what Sam had thought were mere magazines out from under her arm and tossed them nonchalantly on Danny's bed.

"Ah!" Sam blurted out, the triumphant look of one who knows her best friend better than anyone else on her face. "It just so happens that Danny doesn't even like ..."

"Wow!" cried Danny and Tucker in unison. "The Phantom Mutilator #34, complete with Ultra 3-D Holographic Fold-Out! Totally rare edition!"

"comics ..." Sam finished lamely, a low growl issuing from her throat. Tucker and Danny were both so wrapped up in looking at the comic that neither was paying any attention to either girl anymore.

"You were saying?" asked Valerie, a broad smirk on her face.

"Listen, I know what you're up to. You think you can just waltz right in here and with your rare little gifts and your mom's lame chicken soup and Danny will start drooling all over the place. Well, it ain't gonna happen missy!" Sam followed Valerie's gaze to the boys. Saliva had started to drip out of their mouths as they opened up the fold-out and gazed lovingly at it's contents.

"Complete with pictures of the Super Galactic Battle Armor and Red Laser Lances ...," they both continued to read aloud as one. Another growl issued from Sam's throat, only slightly louder then the first.

"Besides," said Valerie. "Why do you even care if I hang around with Fenton? You said yourself that you weren't a couple. Maybe it's time Fenton became part of a couple."

"That's it! Come on Tucker!" Sam grabbed the Fenton Thermos from Danny's desk and stuffed it in her back pocket, then grabbing Tucker by the back of the shirt she proceeded to stalk out of the room. She paused only momentarily to point an accusatory finger at Valerie.

"We're still watching you...," she said menacingly.

"And yet, I'm still here," Valerie retorted back after Sam had finished dragging Tucker from the room.

It was a few more moments before Danny looked up and noticed that his two best friends were absent from the room. "Sam? Tuck? Where did they go?" he asked Valerie.

She shrugged her shoulders in answer and then holding up the tupperware in front of her, with a smile on her face, said "Soup?"

* * *

_Top of a Building, Across the Street from the Fenton House, Amity Park, Saturday, 9:45 a.m._

"Interesting," murmured Skulker to himself as he watched the scene unfold through his binoculars. "So. My pray has become unfit for the chase. I must find a way to remedy this situation. After all, what good is his pelt on my wall if he is too easy to catch? And there, I believe is the answer to my problems..."

Skulker's gaze slipped down to the sidewalk below where a young girl with long black hair, dressed in capri pants and a pink top walked along the sidewalk. Skulker had seen this girl before. She seemed to have some special connection to his prey, always hanging onto his ghost form whenever she got the chance. If he remembered correctly, her name was something like Paulina. Yes, that was it, Paulina. Skulker laughed quietly to himself. He would definitely have use for her ...

* * *

"Careful!" Tucker watched as Sam nearly broke the Fenton Thermos while slamming it into position to upload the ghosts into the ghost zone. Sam mumbled something akin to an apology. At least that's what Tucker thought it was, but it was difficult to say for certain as he hadn't really understood a word of it. He hadn't understood most of the words that had been flying out of her mouth since they left Danny's room. "You okay Sam?" he finally asked.

"Since when does Danny like comic books?" she asked accusatorily. "I thought he had given up that mind-numbing drabble."

"Yeah," Tucker laughed. "But only because he got his ghost powers and has been way to busy battling ghosts to read them anymore. Now that he's sick though, not much he can do in that regard. So why shouldn't he read some comic books for old times sake?"

Sam looked at Tucker incredulously, "You're joking right? Did you _see_ who it was that gave him those comics in the first place?"

"Sure," Tucker shrugged. "It was Valerie."

"No, Tuck. It was Valerie _the Ghost Hunter _… The same girl who has vowed time and again to rid the world of our favorite ghost boy. And she is sitting up in his room at this very moment!"

"Listen Sam, I know your worried about Danny. Heck, so am I, but he's in bed sick. I seriously doubt he is going to do anything or say anything that will put Valerie on his tail. He'll be fine. And if he gets some ultra-rare comics that he can then later share with his best friend, the more power to him!"

"Ugh… Why do I even put up with you two?" Sam rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Because you love us," Tucker said with a smile.

"_I do not love Danny!"_ Sam screamed instinctively before she realized what she was saying. Blushing slightly she tried to recover as best she could. "I mean… Yeah, of course. I love my best friends as best friends…. Nothing more, ha ha."

Tucker shook his head in amazement. "You know, you really should get help for that."

"Come on Tucker, we have ghosts to catch." Sam grabbed the Fenton Thermos and started to head toward the door when she noticed Tucker was once again, no longer paying her the slightest heed. Instead his attention was drawn to a large devise that sat in the corner of the lab, still smoldering slightly.

"Hm… Guess this is what Danny's dad was working on," he commented.

"What is it?" asked Sam, who could make nothing out of it except that it seemed to be a rather large mass of metal and wires.

"Don't know," replied Tucker. "But it looks like someone just ripped a whole bunch of wiring out."

"Probably Danny's dad."

"I wonder if that's what broke it?"

"Could be. Either that or he fell into it. Now come on, we don't have time to waste. If Youngblood escaped from the Ghost Zone, chances are so did some of the others."

"Alright," Tucker said, sparing one last glance back at the broken piece of Fenton equipment.

The pair walked up and through the kitchen and living room where Jazz sat studying.

"Oh, are you two leaving?" Jazz asked.

"Yup," replied Sam. "Got a lot of studying to do. Mr. Lancer gave us a ton of homework."

"Yeah, I saw. He brought all of Danny's homework over last night. Well have fun!" she called after them as the headed out the door. Neither Tucker nor Sam noticed the small bunch of wiring that was stuffed under the couch cushion Jazz was sitting on as they left. When they were out of the door, Jazz glanced upstairs to make certain that Danny and Valerie were nowhere in sight before she grabbed the wiring and went downstairs to put it back in place, fixing what she had earlier broken.

* * *

_Paulina's Residence, Amity Park, Saturday, 10:15 a.m._

"Bye, Papa!" Paulina called as she left her house. Skulker watched from the sidelines, waiting for an opportunity to strike. First, however, he needed to make sure that those two annoyances were within ear or eye shot of what was going on. His trap to lure Danny Phantom out of his sick bed just wouldn't work unless there was someone to tell him that a ghost was after one of his girlfriends.

He also knew that it would not be difficult to allow these three pawns, as it were, to get away. Skulker had still not managed to get the programming out of his system that allowed the tech-obsessed youth to hack into his system at a moment's notice. Normally this caused no end of frustration for Skulker, but this time it would actually be beneficial. Skulker smiled down at the stolen PDA still strapped into his wrist system. His memories of the havoc it had wrecked on him before were still fresh in his mind. It had taken him a good three weeks before he stopped having nightmares of that awful purple-backed gorilla. A shiver went down his spine at the just the very thought of it all.

He looked up and saw that Danny Phantom's two friends were just turning the corner and about to walk right into Paulina.

"Good," he said to himself. "now to make my first move." Skulker went invisible and flow directly over to the group.

"Ow!" Paulina cried as she collided with Tucker. "Watch were you're going!"

"Oh, sorry. My bad …" Tucker was brought up short as he noticed Skulker appear behind Paulina, his ghost gun leveled straight at her back. He smiled his cruelest smiled and began to pull the trigger.

"Sam! Ghost!" Tucker wasted no time in throwing himself at Paulina to get her out of the way. Skulker's blast hit the ground right next to Tucker's foot, searing off the tip of his shoe. Tucker squealed in surprise.

"Got it!" Sam yelled as she pulled out the Fenton Thermos. Another quick blast from Skulker though, knocked it out of her hand and sent it rolling into the street and down into the sewer.

Sam dove after it, reaching her arm through the grate but just missed catching it.

"If I cannot have the half-ghost's pelt on my wall, I will have his girlfriend's," Skulker stated.

"I'm his girlfriend?" Paulina inquired excitedly. It took her a moment to realize what was going on. "Oh no! A ghost! Where is that cute ghost boy when I need him?" Paulina turned to look around, half hoping that it had been the ghost boy that had rescued her. Instead she found herself looking into the puppy dog eyes of Fenton's loser friend, who was way to close for comfort.

"You okay?" Tucker asked Paulina.

"Ew…." Paulina looked disdainfully at Tucker as she pulled away from him. "You scream like a girl."

Tucker sighed. "Gee, Tuck, thanks for saving my life. No problem Paulina, you're welcome," he muttered under his breath.

"Um… Tucker! A little help here!"

Tucker looked over to see Sam lying in the street, her arm stuck in the sewer grate and Skulker taking aim at her head.

"Uh, right!" Tucker pulled out his PDA and hacked into Skulker's system, sending him to the first place he could think of. Skulker screamed as he was swept away by his own gear. He had known it was going to happen, so he tried to make the scream as real as possible. What surprised him was how long it took him to get where he was going, but when he finally landed, he thought that his scream could not possibly have done justice to the torture he was about to endure. As he looked around at that Purple-backed Gorilla's in, what his PDA told him was, the San Diego Zoo, he let out a vicious howl of rage.

"Oh, he is going to pay for this." With that Skulker flew into the air to make his way back to Amity Park.

* * *

Tucker helped Sam out of the gutter. 

"Where did miss prissy pants go?" Sam asked.

"Who knows. She said something about the fact that next time we should wait and let 'the cute ghost boy' save her and then she took off in a huff."

Sam laughed. "Okay, so we can put that in your PDA for today. 'Do not save Paulina.' Hey I kinda like the sound of that one."

"_Sam."_

"Just joking. By the way, where did you send Skulker this time?"

"I sent him to the San Diego Zoo. Thought he could use another lesson on the purple-backed gorilla." Tucker smiled.

"Well," Sam looked down at the grate. "We'd better get down there and find the Fenton Thermos. Danny will kill us if we lose it. And with Skulker around, you know we're gonna need it."

"Yeah, I suppose so," said Tucker. "But I call dibs on the HazMat gear."

* * *

_Underground Sewers, Amity Park, Saturday, 11:20 a.m._

Tucker and Sam squelched through the dark, murky water. They had been in the sewers for awhile now and were no closer to finding the Fenton Thermos then they were when they first started.

"The water is completely stagnant, so it couldn't have gone that far." Sam bent over to dig deeper in the slush.

Tucker stood by, tugging at the bulky, white, protective ghost gear he wore. "Doesn't this thing have something to protect a person from horrible smells?"

"It's ghost gear, Tuck," Sam replied, adjusting her own suit to allow her better movement. "For use in the ghost zone? When was the last time you actually _smelled_ a ghost?"

"Um… Not counting Danny's socks?"

"Not counting Danny's socks."

"Guess you do have a point there. But it would still be much better if Danny's dad installed something to help with the smell. You know, just in case."

"AH-HA!" cried out Sam as she fished something out of the sewage.

"About time. I am so ready to get out of here." Tucker turned to look at Sam and quickly realized that the object in her hand wasn't the Fenton Thermos at all. Instead she was holding what Tucker could only describe as a large wet hairball with a long wormlike tail.

"I knew it!" Sam went on. "With so many people not paying any attention to the environment it was only a matter of time before innocent creatures started to suffer. I mean look at this!" She stuffed the creature under Tucker's nose as if he was solely responsible for it's current state.

"Um, Sam?" Tucker tried to back away a bit and pointed a finger at it. "That's a dead rat."

"It's only dead because people have killed it by poisoning its home!"

"I repeat. It's a dead rat, Sam. Its home is a sewer, and you're still holding it. Don't you know those things carry diseases?" Sam started to answer but before she could, the rat, moving with lightening speed, bit her on the finger and dived back into the murky water below.

"Ow!" Sam yelped.

"Hm. Guess it wasn't so dead after all," Tucker smiled. Looking down at where it had entered the water, he noticed a brief glimmer of something silver and green. Reaching down, he pulled out the lost Fenton Thermos. "But, at least the little fellow helped us find this." Sam merely glared at Tucker maliciously.

"Come on Sam," Tucker said happily. "Skulker isn't going to stay away forever you know."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note:** Ah! Another Chapter up and running! Hope you all enjoy! I am really having fun with this one. I have been trying to stay true to form to the TV series (running gags and all), and hope that I am doing a good job. As usual, reviews are always appreciated!_

_**Ormandria

* * *

**_

_The Nasty Burger, Amity Park, 12:20 p.m._

Skulker flew back into Amity Park city limits, his temper honing down a touch with the thought of finally having Danny Phantom's pelt on his wall. He was greatly disappointed though when he made his way to the boys home, only to discover that no one had bothered telling the ghost-child about the attack on his precious female.

"All right ghost-child. If they will not inform you of what is going on, I will simply have to try again, until they do. One way or another, I will make you mine." Skulker went searching through the city in hopes that he would once again find his current prey. It didn't take long. There, standing outside of the Nasty Burger, was Paulina. She was busy chatting happily with three friends, two males and one female. The two side-kicks were no where to be seen, but this time Skulker was hardly concerned. There were enough people here to ensure that one way or another word would get to his real prey.

Skulker laughed as he flew down and shot a green ray of ectoplasm straight at Paulina's little group of friends.

* * *

"What I don't get," Sam continued as she and Tucker headed to their favorite hang-out. "Is, what does Skulker want with Paulina anyway? It's not like she's that great a catch." 

"Says you," Tucker told her, a sly look in his eyes. "Danny wouldn't mind catching her sometime."

"Please," Sam groaned. "Don't remind me."

"Besides," added Tucker, ignoring Sam's bitter remark. "Didn't you hear him? He thinks she's Danny's girlfriend. So he probably figures that if he can get her, he can get to Danny."

"Wow," Sam stopped in mid-stride and looked at her friend in disbelief. "I don't know which amazes me more. That you paid enough attention to what was going on to pick up on what he said, or that you actually figured something out that might actually be the case."

"You know Sam, that hurts," Tucker pouted. "I'll have you know that I happen to be very smart."

"Says the boy with the D-average," Sam laughed in return.

The come-back was ready and on Tucker's tongue, but a series of screams erupted into the air as people scrambled past the turn ahead of them. Looking at each other they knew instantly what was going on.

"Skulker," they shouted in unison, as they ran the last block to the Nasty Burger.

Sure enough, as they rounded the corner they saw the World's Greatest Ghost Hunter firing ectoblasts into a cluster of high school kids. Dash, Kwan, Paulina and Star stood in a tight group as they tried desperately to avoid the blasts. Every time they moved toward the door of the Nasty Burger, a blast hit the door. When they tried to move away from it a blast would hit near their feet. Sam was struck with the sudden impression of a giant, multi-colored, four-headed and eight-legged chicken trying to outrun the local gunslinger as it were.

"Hey, Slug for Brains!" Sam shouted, throwing her shoe at the ghost in an attempt to distract Skulker from his targets.

Skulker turned on her and laughed. "Do you think you can stop me with a mere shoe? I am Skulk…."

"Yay, yay. You're Skulker. World's Greatest Ghost Hunter," Tucker mimicked snidely. A blast from Skulker's gun ripped into Tucker's hat, carrying it away.

Tucker cried out and dove behind a large trash dumpster beside the restaurant, curling up with his back against the wall and his knees under his chin. After a moment he looked next to him and saw Dash and Kwan were already huddled there in identical positions.

"Dude," said Dash, shaking his head and looking on Tucker with something very close to pity in his eyes. "You scream like a girl…."

"Oh, man," Tucker sighed despondently.

"I hate being interrupted," Skulker sneered, looking back toward Sam. "Now, where was I? Oh yes, the girlfriend."

The ghost pulled a second gun from his holster and fired off a shot from each gun. The first knocked the Fenton Thermos from Sam's hands, ensuring that Skulker need not worry about her trapping him in that irksome device.

The second was fired at a retreating Paulina, who had been trying to sneak away in the confusion. A ghostly green net sprang from the gun and entrapped the popular girl, knocking her to the ground.

Before Skulker could reel her in though, a large two-by-four hit him square in the back. He let go of the rope connected to the net and swirled until his face was mere inches away from Sam's.

"You know," he said, his voice full of irritation. "You are really beginning to annoy me."

"Good!" Sam retorted, her hands balled up into fists, ready to fight. "You want a piece of me? Come and get it!"

Skulker sighed heavily. "I really don't have time for this now, but if you want, I can come back later. Right now, I have what I want." He quickly made a dive at Paulina before she could get untangled from the net. Lifting her up, so that she was dangling upside down, he yelled down toward Sam.

"Tell your friend that if he wants to see his precious girlfriend again, he will turn himself over to me for the hunt." With that Skulker flew up and away with a screaming Paulina in his clutches.

"Sam?" Tucker asked as he crept out from behind the dumpster.

"Where were you Tucker?" Sam nearly screamed at him. "He got away!"

"Sorry," Tucker flinched. "I'm just not use to having to fight ghosts without Danny's help. But hey, he'll show up again and we can get him then." He smiled wanly at Sam.

"Not likely Tuck," Sam stared at the sky where the ghost hunter had disappeared. "He's got Paulina."

"Uh-oh," Tucker replied.

"Uh-oh is right. I think it's time we got Danny."

* * *

_Fenton Residence, Amity Park, 12:45 p.m._

Sam and Tucker pounded on the front door for several minutes before Jazz finally flung it open in a fury.

"Alright already!" the red-haired teen reprimanded the pair. "I said I was coming. No need to disturb the whole neighborhood!"

"Um, sorry Jazz. Just worried about …" Sam punched her elbow into Tucker's stomach to silence him before he said something stupid.

"About all that homework that Lancer sent Danny. Turns out it's really hard stuff," Sam covered. "So we thought we'd better hurry over to help him with it."

Jazz looked at the teens suspiciously for a moment, before letting them in.

"Well Danny is still upstairs in his room with Valerie. I'm sure you can find the way." Jazz sighed as she watched them rush up the steps. They were out of sight before she even finished her second sentence.

Sam barged into Danny's room to a sight that had her gagging. Danny and Valerie were busy looking over some of the comics she had brought over and were laughing about them. Tucker pushed past, momentarily forgetting the urgent business that had brought them back to the Fenton Works earlier then expected.

"Hey," he commented genially. "What's so funny?"

"This," Danny held up the comic for Tucker to see and sure enough Tucker exploded with laughter. Sam cleared her throat dramatically.

"Oh, hi Sam," Danny smiled up at his friend. "Come on in. I'm feeling a lot better thanks to the soup Val's mom made."

"Really? What's in it" asked Tucker as he grabbed the Tupperware and sniffed the contents.

"Oh the usual," Valerie replied. "Chicken, noodles, chicken broth, celery, carrots, garlic, salt…."

"Sounds delicious!" Tucker grabbed Danny's spoon and hefted a heaping helping into his mouth, only to choke a minute later.

"Cayenne peppers," Valerie continued without missing a beat. Tucker grabbed Danny's glass of water off the bedstand and gulped down the water within.

"Cayenne peppers?" Sam asked in astonishment. "Who puts Cayenne peppers in Chicken Noodle Soup?"

"My mom," Valerie shrugged. "It helps clear the sinuses."

"Boy does it," remarked Danny. "And definitely a boost to the immune system. I even feel ready to get back to school."

"This stuff will definitely put hair on your chest!" Tucker said through gasps for air.

"And yet another reason why no girl will ever date you," Valerie and Sam stated at the same time. Sam glared at Valerie.

"Hey, you can't insult Tucker like that!"

"What do you mean?" Valerie shot back. "You insulted him too!"

"Yah, but he's my friend! I'm allowed to!" Sam's face was mere inches away from Valerie's as the tension in the room rose above the boiling point.

"Um, Sam," Tucker interrupted in a strained voice. "Did you forget why we're here? To help Danny with his _homework_…."

"I don't need help with my…," Danny started, only to be silenced by the look in Tucker's eyes.

"Oh, yah," he continued as though he had just remembered it. "My homework. Gotta get it done. Sorry Val, but I better get to work."

"That's okay Fenton," Valerie shrugged casually. "I was just leaving anyway." She sent one last mocking smile at Sam before she turned to leave.

The goth girl waited until she was positive that Valerie was downstairs and out of the house before she turned and screamed. "I hate that girl!"

"You know Sam, Valerie is really nice once you get to know her," Danny smirked.

"I don't want to get to know her. She hunts ghosts. You are half-ghost. Therefore, she hunts _you_! Tell me where the good in getting to know her better is?"

"Hey guys!" Tucker pushed himself between his friends to get their attention. "We have bigger issues then Valerie at the moment."

"Oh right, I almost forgot," muttered Sam, sheepishly.

"Bigger issues? What bigger issues?" Danny looked at his friends, his brow furrowed in concern.

"Well you see," Sam laughed nervously. "We kind of ran into Skulker."

"Skulker?" Danny sat straight up at this news. It was one thing to have his friends going after Youngblood, but quite another if they had to go up against Skulker alone. He wouldn't wish Skulker on his worst enemy. At least, not his worst human enemy. If Skulker was around then that meant it wouldn't be long before he should up at Danny's house to go after him. A fact that would wreck havoc on his delicately balanced world, considering that he had been, up until a little while ago, too sick to fight even a simple ghost.

"Did you get him?"

"Not exactly," Tucker clutched his hands in worry. "He sort of got away."

"With Paulina," Sam finished lamely.

Danny's eye began to twitch. "What do you mean he got away with Paulina?"

"He kidnapped her," Sam watched Danny's face drain of all color as the rest of the explanation just rushed out of her. "We tried to stop him Danny, but we couldn't. It is Skulker after all."

"I don't understand. Why would the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter go after Paulina?"

"We think it was to lure you out of bed to fight," Tucker explained.

"Of course it helped that he said 'Tell your friend that if he wants to see his precious girlfriend again, he will turn himself over to me for the hunt,' as he flew away," Sam remarked, mimicking Skulker's voice for effect.

Danny started laughing. "Well then, I guess it's a good thing that Val did bring that soup over. It was just what I needed to give me the strength to go kick some ghost hunter butt!"


End file.
